Body

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (Mon., Nov. 1, 2010) -- Imaging has rapidly become a defining tool of the current era in biological research. But finding the right method and optimizing it for data collection can be a daunting process, even for an established imaging laboratory.

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 1 – Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) prevent colon cancer by triggering diseased stem cells to self-destruct, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings, reported in the early online version of this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could lead to new strategies to protect people at high risk for the disease.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The rate at which lead poisoning has struck young Rhode Island children depends heavily on where they live, according to a Brown University-led geographic analysis of comprehensive health department data from across Rhode Island between 1993 and 2005. By mapping cases of lead poisoning, researchers have been able to help target cleanup resources to do the most good.

Excess nitrogen from agricultural and urban lands is contaminating groundwater, streams, lakes and estuaries, where it causes harmful algal blooms and contributes to fish kills.

Cost-effective approaches to removing this nitrogen from croplands and urban stormwater runoff before it reaches sensitive water bodies have been elusive.

But simple and inexpensive technologies are on the horizon. A recent scientific workshop on denitrification brought together ecologists, engineers and policy experts to find answers.

Researchers at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences have developed a novel algebraic model of DNA "hybridization," a process central to most biotechnology devices that monitor changes in cell's gene expression or characterize a cell's genome. Their work, which is described in the journal Physical Review E, provides an additional tool for understanding how biological systems function and could enhance methods and designs of technologies used in cancer and genetics research.

London, ON - Three leading physicians have published a review in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology warning about the danger of dietary cholesterol for those at risk of a heart attack or stroke. And they say one of the worst offenders is the egg yolk which, depending on size, can contain 215 to 275 mg of cholesterol. The Double Down from Kentucky Fried Chicken contains 150 mg of cholesterol. Patients at risk of cardiovascular disease are advised to limit their total dietary cholesterol to less than 200 mg per day.

A recent scientific discovery made by researchers at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) led by Dr. Javier Marcelo Di Noia, Director of the Mechanisms and Genetic Diversity research unit, was published online today by The Journal of Experimental Medicine. The team identified a mechanism regulating activation-induced deaminase (AID), which could be important for the therapy of some types of lymphoma and leukemia.

Because primary lung adenocarcinoma is exceedingly rare in the pediatric population, it is difficult to properly classify certain lung tumors in children and adolescents. While anecdotal reports of pediatric patients with lung cancer lesions exist, little research has been conducted to link the disease in children to similar pulmonary malignancies in adults.

Tracy Collier, an employee at Home Technologies in Newport News, Virginia, was walking her employer's Westie around the Center's manmade lake on Thursday when she saw a large, mysterious blob floating in the water.

Co-worker Charlie Schmuck says "The lake is behind our office. Tracy was walking by the lake, saw the object, and asked everyone else to come out and take a look."

-75% of people treated in the Phase 3 ADVANCE study achieved a viral cure with telaprevir; majority of people treated for a total of 24 weeks--62% of African-Americans/Blacks in the ADVANCE study achieved a viral cure with telaprevir--Low discontinuation rates of all drugs due to adverse events-

The addition of monounsaturated fat (MUFA) to a cholesterol-lowering dietary portfolio in patients with mild to moderate elevated cholesterol levels increased HDL by 12.5% and lowered LDL levels by 35%, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Low HDL-C levels and high LDL-C levels are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The addition of dietary monounsaturated fat, common in the Mediterranean diet, is a current approach to raising HDL-C levels.

Patients taking inhaled corticosteroids are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and more so with higher doses, say researchers at the Jewish General Hospital's Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI) In Montreal. The risk is of special concern for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and much less significant for asthmatics.

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Helicobacter pylori, a common stomach bacterium, reduced the severity of inflammation of the colon caused by Salmonella in mice, according to research from U-M Medical School scientists.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a new method to speed the production rate of nanoparticles by 500 times, an advance that could play an important role in making nanotechnology products more commercially practical.

The approach uses an arrayed microchannel reactor and a "laminated architecture" in which many sheets, each with thousands of microchannels in them, are stacked in parallel to provide a high volume of production and excellent control of the processes involved.

Invasions of voracious predatory crabs due to global warming could threaten the unique continental-shelf ecosystems of Antarctica, according to newly published findings.